Shows
L'Dor Vador: Generational TorahEikev 5785Episode 8 – Eikev: Heels, Little Things, and Big, Big Things |This week on L’Dor V’Dor, we explore Parshat Eikev, named for the “heel.” We ask: what does it mean to be a heel in the Torah? And what are the easy mitzvot we trample underfoot, as Rashi suggests?Where last week’s parsha spoke of our love for God, this week focuses on God’s love for us and for the Land of Israel. Eikev challenges us to see the big significance in small acts: the “light” commandments, humility, gratitude, and memory.We discuss:• The...2025-08-1230 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahVaetchanan 5785Episode 7 – Vaetchanan: Hear Oh Israel, Hashem is One |This week, we open Parshat Vaetchanan with Moshe who is asking, pleading, even begging, to enter the Land of Israel. Through midrash and commentary, we explore Moshe's humility as he is denied his final wish.There’s too much in this parsha to cover in one episode, but we touch on the Shema and the repetition of the Ten Commandments — two foundational texts of Jewish tradition — and use them as a lens for larger questions:• What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, and...2025-08-0728 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahDevarim 5785Episode 6 – Devarim: Moshe’s Farewell Speech |This week, we open the last book of the Chumash with Parshat Devarim. Moshe has fully overcome his early speech difficulties to deliver a month-long farewell address, the Mishne Torah, to the people of Israel on the edge of the Promised Land, which they will enter without him. His words are both rebuke and encouragement, memory and warning, and they are recorded not just as Moshe's parting words at the "bus stop" but as God’s word itself. Along the way, we reflect on other farewells — from George Washington’s to the parting sc...2025-07-3025 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahMatot-Masei 5785Episode 5 – Matot-Masei: A Foot in Each World and the Point of No Return |This week, we reflect on the double portion Matot-Masei, and the ending of the Book of Numbers. From censuses to conquests, we explore the challenge of closing one chapter while standing on the edge of the next. What does it mean to count—as an individual, and as part of a people? What happens when ancient texts challenge modern moral frameworks? And how do we live in the tension between exile and promise? |We explore:• Why the Jewish lunar-solar calendar sometimes gives us double...2025-07-2131 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahPinchas 578Episode 4 – Pinchas: Don't Try This at Home |This week on L’Dor V’Dor, we pick up where last week’s parsha left off: the daughters of Moab and Midian seducing the Israelites, a plague, and a violent intercession. In the heat of this crisis, Pinchas (grandson of Aaron) kills Zimri and Cozbi mid-act, and is rewarded by God with a brit shalom, a pact of peace. But what does it mean to call a violent zealot “righteous”? |We explore:• What was the Israelite sin in the worship of Baal Peor—and why did it provoke such a severe response?• Who w...2025-07-1832 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahBalak 5785Episode 3 – Balak: Blessings or Curses for a People That Dwells Apart |This week, we unpack Parshat Balak, and the story of attempted curses turned into unexpected blessings. Why does the Moabite king hire Bilam, a foreign prophet with unclear loyalties, to curse Israel with words? And why does the Torah choose him to utter some of its most poetic visions of the Jewish people? |We explore:• Why does Balak fight the Israelites with speech instead of substance?• What does it mean that the Torah’s greatest blessings come from outside the "tribe"?• What is the torah and contemporary meaning of a “risi...2025-07-1033 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahChukat 5785Episode 2 – Chukat: The Red Heifer, Losing Leaders, and What We Cannot Explain | This week, we wrestle with Parshat Chukat, a portion packed with paradox: the mystery of the Red Heifer, the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, and Moses hitting the rock and losing the chance to enter the Promised Land. | We explore:• What does it mean to keep a mitzvah that is outside human reason?• What do animal sacrifices, processes, and rituals say about our relationship to death, purity, and responsibility?• Why does the loss of a leader (Miriam, Aaron) provoke such dif...2025-07-0334 minL'Dor Vador: Generational TorahKorach 5785Episode 1 – Korach: Revolt, Chosenness, and the Blooming AlmondThis week, we begin our Torah journey with Parshat Korach—a story of rebellion, holiness, chosenness and leadership that still echoes today.We explore:Who was Korach, and why did he challenge Moses and Aaron?Is the holiness of Am Israel collective or individual?What does a society's religious focus tell us about their cultural character?The deeper meaning behind the earth swallowing dissent, and the miracle of Aaron’s almond-blossoming staff.Torah as history or metaphor: what does t...2025-06-2629 min